Aonuma motivated by impressing Miyamoto and constantly improving the Zelda formula
A portion of a Develop-Online interview with Eiji Aonuma...
DO: And how do you keep yourself and those staff creatively motivated and enthusiastic when the Zelda series has been around for so long?
EA: My staff really are driven and kept motivated by the idea of seeing the players enjoy their creations. That is what I try and make them strive for and that is why they invest part of their life over many years into these games.
In my case, for me it is about impressing Mr Miyamoto; that’s the big one and that’s what keeps me motivated.
DO: So does bettering Ocarina motivate you?
EA: Yes, absolutely. But it’s not only Ocarina of Time. We look at every past Zelda title in the franchise, with a view to make people realise that the game has grown and improved. This is what we are aiming for with every release.
DO: What is most core to the Zelda experience? What is so sacred to the series it could never be changed?
EA: Well. Zelda has to be in the title. That’s something we could never change [much laughter].
That’s not everything though. There’s something that makes even the most distinct Zelda games feel similar in spirit.
Many people ask about that ‘Zelda-ness’, and I think Mr Miyamoto would say the same as me. What makes a game a Zelda game is the theme of uniqueness that we strive for.
A Zelda game should never be similar to anything else or resemble other games. This is always what we aim for, and that striving for uniqueness is the common denominator across the series.
Full interview here
DO: And how do you keep yourself and those staff creatively motivated and enthusiastic when the Zelda series has been around for so long?
EA: My staff really are driven and kept motivated by the idea of seeing the players enjoy their creations. That is what I try and make them strive for and that is why they invest part of their life over many years into these games.
In my case, for me it is about impressing Mr Miyamoto; that’s the big one and that’s what keeps me motivated.
DO: So does bettering Ocarina motivate you?
EA: Yes, absolutely. But it’s not only Ocarina of Time. We look at every past Zelda title in the franchise, with a view to make people realise that the game has grown and improved. This is what we are aiming for with every release.
DO: What is most core to the Zelda experience? What is so sacred to the series it could never be changed?
EA: Well. Zelda has to be in the title. That’s something we could never change [much laughter].
That’s not everything though. There’s something that makes even the most distinct Zelda games feel similar in spirit.
Many people ask about that ‘Zelda-ness’, and I think Mr Miyamoto would say the same as me. What makes a game a Zelda game is the theme of uniqueness that we strive for.
A Zelda game should never be similar to anything else or resemble other games. This is always what we aim for, and that striving for uniqueness is the common denominator across the series.
Full interview here
